We went to see Much Ado About Nothing, written by William Shakespeare, at the Globe Theatre, an exact replica of an outdoor theater from the 16th century. My first thought is that it was cold. Very, very cold. The wind was blowing particularly hard, and I felt sorry for the actors. I used my bag as a blanket for the first half of the show and decided to rent a blanket at intermission. Once I warmed up, I really liked the natural lighting and fresh air. I think on a nicer day I would have enjoyed the play much more. The style of the building was fun and although I was warned that the seats weren’t comfortable at all, I actually disagree with this. I quite enjoyed my seat and felt I would have been a lot more uncomfortable standing.
The show was pretty much what I was expecting but it was actually a little funnier than I thought it would be though I’m not sure if some of the parts I thought were funny were originally funny when Shakespeare wrote it or if it was just how the actors delivered the lines. Furthermore, I think it was supposed to be even funnier than it was, but I didn’t get all the jokes. I had a little trouble hearing some of the things the actors said and even if I could have heard everything just fine, I still had a lot of trouble following along with the Shakespearean way of speaking. This did not bother me much, because I have had difficulty understanding Shakespearean plays before and was pretty sure I was going to have trouble understanding this one before the play even started. I’m glad we discussed this play in class before we went to see it because I was familiar with the characters and plot which made it a lot easier to understand and follow along.
I thought the set was fun. There was not much done to create a set and we had to use our imagination. The trees on the set were a gorgeous gold color, there was a bench, and crates of oranges. There were also a couple cobalt blue balconies that really popped against the golden orange from the rest of the set. In addition, the stage didn’t have any special lighting, like spotlights or colored light, just natural sunlight. While outdoor theaters were probably common in the 16th/17th century, I don’t think it is common to find an outdoor theater nowadays. I did expect there to be a space in front of the stage for people to stand because we were told about it beforehand. What did surprise me was the actors moving through the crowd of spectators and using them as a part of the show. I expect that some of the jokes, gestures, and facial expressions the actors make in this time would probably have been different to fit the humor and mannerisms of the people back then.
Overall, seeing the performance in this environment was a fun experience that I’m glad I got to have. I think it would be fun to come back with my family and see another play at the Globe Theatre in the future.
Theatre in London U of A 